ROY KEANE plans talks with Marton Fulop at the end of the season to decide the keeper’s future – putting promotion-chasing Stoke on red alert.

The Hungary international keeper is highly-rated by Keane, but the Sunderland boss knows that the 24-year-old needs to play regular first-team football if he is to keep his status as his country’s No 1.

And he is unlikely to get that on Wearside with Craig Gordon (right) in outstanding form.

Keane will speak to Fulop about the situation and could decide to either let the ex-Spurs man spend the majority of next season out on loan, or even opt to sell him in the summer.

If he is allowed to leave, sources in the Midlands say that Stoke – where Fulop spent a very brief loan spell a couple of months ago – would be interested.

“Marton has made it clear to me that he wants to go out and play first team football,” admitted Keane. “And that’s a situation we will have a look at during the summer.”

Fulop joined Leicester back in August on a season-long loan and made 27 appearances for the Foxes in the first half of the campaign.

Leicester were keen to buy him in the January transfer window, but their valuation of the player fell well short of Sunderland’s.

As a result, he was recalled to Wearside in January and was then allowed to join Stoke on loan in February.

But an injury to Darren Ward – Sunderland’s only other senior replacement for Gordon – meant that loan spell lasted just four days before he was recalled again.

Keane said: “It was an unbelievable stroke of luck that we brought Marton back when we did, because Wardy has picked up one or two different niggles over the last month or so.

“And he won’t be fit for a good few weeks.”

Fulop joined Sunderland from Spurs in a £500,000 deal in January last year after initially joining the Black Cats on loan two months earlier as part of the deal that saw young goalkeeper Ben Alnwick move to White Hart Lane.

But last season Ward was Sunderland’s first choice goalkeeper and this campaign, record-signing Gordon has got the No 1 shirt.

Fulop has made just five appearances for Sunderland during his 18 months at the club.